Association between incisor irregularity and coronal caries: A population-based study.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between incisor irregularity and anterior coronal caries by means of an arch-specific analysis among the U.S. population in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III) 1988-1994. This study analyzed data from 9049 participants who were surveyed from 1988 to 1994 as a part of the NHANES III. Participants with a complete set of fully erupted permanent anterior teeth in the maxillary and mandibular segments (ie, canine to canine), who completed an examination of occlusal characteristics and anterior dental caries, and who reported no previous orthodontic treatment were included in the study. Incisor irregularity per arch was determined with the use of the Little irregularity index. Anterior coronal caries per arch was defined as ≥1 surface with decayed or filled surface (CDFS ≥1). Analyses were conducted with the use of chi-square test and logistic regression modeling taking into account the complex sampling design of the survey. In the maxillary arch, 25.1% of the study population had maxillary anterior coronal caries experience (CDFS ≥1), whereas only 5.5% of the study population had mandibular anterior coronal caries experience (CDFS ≥1). In both arches, no statistically significant association between incisor irregularity and anterior coronal caries experience was found. Maxillary and mandibular incisor irregularity is not associated with anterior dental caries prevalence in a subset of NHANES III data that included mostly highly educated adult participants who were white, of medium socioeconomic status, and with high oral health compliance and oral self-care. Future well designed prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm these results. Clinicians are still encouraged to continue providing oral health education to their patients about the well established effect of incisor irregularity on plaque retention.